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Weary and undermanned Raptors lose to NBA’s worst

Rookie Ed Davis comes up empty in Toronto’s fourth game in five nights.

Toronto Raptors guard Sonny Weems (right) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Luke Harangody (44) battle for a rebound during the first half of NBA action in Toronto on Wednesday. (Frank Gunn / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

It would be so much easier if there was a drill they could design or a play they could run or a pill they could take to turn relative boys into men, to teach them how to fight through fatigue and failure and to suck it up and overcome.

There are not, though, and that’s why what transpired at the Air Canada Centre really doesn’t come as the biggest of surprises.

Before the Raptors lost 104-96 to the Cleveland Cavaliers — only the owners of the worst record in the NBA — coach Jay Triano had worried about what he’d get from his kids.

He wondered about Ed Davis, how he’d respond to playing extended minutes in a stretch of four games in five nights, whether he’d have energy for another big game or the mental toughness to play well when he was tired.

“He’s very active, he chases balls, he gets rebounds, he anticipates very well . . . (but) this is the fourth game in five nights and you have to learn how to fight through that and be very good in these situations,” Triano said maybe 90 minutes before tip.

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“You can talk about four in five but until you go through it as an athlete . . . this is a tough game mentally for our young players.”

And as the coach stood in almost exactly the same spot about four hours later, he had his proof.

Now, it’s not as if Davis was the lone culprit on an awful night when the Raptors let the 17-61 Cavs lead by as many as 20, but he was one of them.

Jose Calderon, playing for the first time in three games, missed all seven shots he took; Amir Johnson’s bad ankle kept him out of the game; Andrea Bargnani and Leandro Barbosa were also injured, forcing Triano to rely on guys he shouldn’t have to rely on and those were certainly factors.

But much of this team’s future rides on the continued development of the extremely talented Davis, and he’s going to have to learn to be better under every circumstance.

“You can’t coach that, you can’t go upstairs and work on that,” said Triano. “You’ve got to go through this . . . he’s going to have nights like tonight and that’s part of the growth of a young player. He’s going to have to learn to be better and that’s what we challenged him with at halftime.”

Davis finished with just two points and five rebounds in 31 minutes, a far cry from the 22 points and 13 rebounds he put up Tuesday in New York.

“You have to learn how to play in these situations,” Triano said, speaking in generalities. “I’m tired. We’re all tired. The Cavs are tired; they played last night, too. But this is the part where you suck it up and this is the part where you go out there and you try to compete, regardless.

“There’s no one feeling sorry for you. You have to come out and you’ve got to play, and I thought we responded in the second half. We played a lot harder.”

But by then the damage was done. Baron Davis was on his way to a 19-point, 12-assist night, J.J. Hickson was en route to a 28-point, 10-rebound gem and the Raptors could only get 28 points off the bench from Jerryd Bayless and 19 from DeMar DeRozan.

The most effective Raptor all night was Reggie Evans, who had a season-high 15 points and 13 rebounds.

“We’re a young team and I thought in the first half our best player was Reggie Evans,” said Triano. “Well, Reggie Evans is also the most veteran guy we have, so he’s the guy who’s been through it before.”

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